We always kept an eye on Mrs. Teagarden. She was an elderly lady and she and her
husband usually sat on the right side of the church about four pews from the
front, next to the middle aisle.
She was constantly looking out for us teen-aged girls and one time when we had a
young, good looking evangelist visit our church, Mrs. Teagarden nodded her head
meaningfully as she whispered to us, “If I were you, I’d set my cap for him!” We
were so embarrassed that we nearly melted into the pew as we hoped nobody else
heard her. We knew it was her way of saying that she approved of the young man
and hoped one of us might be interested in him as a future husband.
Each Sunday my girlfriends and I sat together in church and it became a bit of a
game for us to watch Mrs. Teagarden.
Mrs. Teagarden was a petite little lady who dressed very neatly and her outfit
always included her hat and gloves, yet it was not her attire that interested
us. It was her facial expressions that we watched very closely. We had to keep
an eye out and watch for “the look” lest we miss it!
“The look” was something that is hard to explain, you just had to see it, but we
soon found out that we could anticipate it by what the minister said in his
sermon. The first one of us who saw her even begin to exhibit “the look” would
promptly nudge the other and we would stifle our giggles as we took delight in
watching her. “Here it comes, she’s going to do it!” our eyes would tell one
another without saying a word.
It seemed like “the look” would begin to appear whenever something important was
being said during the minister’s message. It was when he would begin to talk
about someone’s need, suffering, or a crisis. Whether it was in our own
community or elsewhere in the world, it didn’t matter to Mrs. Teagarden. We knew
this was usually our clue as to when she would turn around ever so slightly in
her seat, look toward the rest of the congregation, and present us with. . .
“the look”.
It was as if she wanted to be sure everyone understood the vital importance of
the minister’s statement. If he spoke of something that concerned us children,
we would then be favored with “the look” being turned straight toward us.
It wasn’t that we were making fun of Mrs. Teagarden by keeping an eye out for
“the look” because we all loved her. We were just young and looking for
something to do besides sit still and listen as we should.
I didn’t know back then that what I saw and thought was humorous would be
something that I would remember and see in a whole new light in later years so I
really did learn something without realizing it at the time.
Now I understand that “the look” often said more than the minister’s words could
say because Mrs. Teagarden was a lady who cared about people. It seemed to break
her heart to think that others were suffering.
If it were possible to create words to describe “the look”, it would be
something like a bit of a frown, a slight smile, and an expression of sadness
all mingled together with tear filled eyes. “The look” said something like: “I
care, I want to help, and I love you. Won’t you please care, help, and love
too?”
I learned an important lesson from Mrs. Teagarden. I learned that it was
important to love and to care but I also learned that action should always go
along with it. She didn’t stop with “the look” as some might do but she was
ready to do whatever she could and encouraged others to do what they could also.
I’m confident that Mrs. Teagarden simply reflected the great gift from above
that had been given to her because “the look” of compassion began many years ago
when “Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion
toward them.” It was “the look” that said, “I care, I want to help, and I love
you.”
Pamela Perry Blaine pamyblaine@blaines.us
© April 2006
The Illustrator: This daily newsletter is dedicated to encouraging
everyone to look towards Jesus as the source of all the solutions to our
problems. It contains a daily inspirational story, a Bible verse and encouraging
messages. HTML and plain text versions available.
The Nugget: Published three times a week, this newsletter features inspirational devotionals and mini-sermons dedicated to drawing mankind closer to each other and to Christ.